What Is the Arts and Architecture of the Aztec
The Aztec culture, centred at the capital of Tenochtitlan, dominated most of Mesoamerica in the 15th-16th centuries. With military machine conquest and trade expansion, the fine art of the Aztecs also spread, helping the Aztec civilisation achieve a cultural and political hegemony over their subjects and creating for posterity a tangible record of the artistic imagination and great talent of the artists from this last great Mesoamerican culture.
Influences
Common threads run through the history of Mesoamerican civilisation and particularly in art. The Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Zapotec civilizations, amongst others, perpetuated an artistic tradition which displayed a love of monumental rock sculpture, imposing compages, highly decorated pottery, geometric stamps for fabric and body art, and scenic metalwork which were all used to stand for people, animals, plants, gods and features of religious anniversary, particularly those rites and deities connected to fertility and agriculture.
Aztec artists were also influenced past their contemporaries from neighbouring states, specially artists from Oaxaca (a number of whom permanently resided at Tenochtitlan) and the Huastec region of the Gulf Declension where there was a strong tradition of iii-dimensional sculpture. These diverse influences and the Aztecs' own eclectic tastes and adoration of ancient art made their art one of the about varied of all ancient cultures anywhere. Sculptures of gruesome gods with abstract imagery could come from the same workshop as naturalistic works which depicted the beauty and grace of the animal and man form.
Features of Aztec Fine art
Metalwork was a particular skill of the Aztecs. The great Renaissance artist Albrecht Drurer saw some of the artefacts brought back to Europe which caused him to say, '...I have never seen in all my days that which and then rejoiced my heart, as these things. For I saw among them amazing creative objects, and I marvelled over the subtle ingenuity of the men in these distant lands'. Unfortunately, every bit with most other artefacts, these objects were melted downwardly for currency, and and so very few examples survive of the Aztecs' fine metalworking skills in gold and silverish. Smaller items accept been discovered, amongst them gold labrets (lip piercings), pendants, rings, earrings and necklaces in gold representing everything from eagles to tortoise shells to gods, which are testimony to the skills in lost-wax casting and filigree work of the finest artisans or tolteca.
The Aztecs as well employed art equally a tool to reinforce their armed services & cultural potency beyond Mesoamerica.
Aztec sculpture has been a better survivor, and its subject was very often individuals from the extensive family unit of gods they worshipped. Carved in stone and wood these figures, sometimes monumental in size, were not idols containing the spirit of the god, every bit in Aztec faith the spirit of a particular deity was thought to reside in sacred bundles kept within shrines and temples. Nonetheless, it was thought necessary to 'feed' these sculptures with blood and precious objects, hence tales from the Castilian conquistadors of huge statues splattered with blood and encrusted with jewels and gilded. Other large sculptures, more in the circular, include the magnificent seated god Xochipilli and the diverse chacmools, reclining figures with a hollow carved in the chest which was used as a receptacle for the hearts of sacrificial victims. These, as with most other Aztec sculpture, would have once been painted using a wide range of vivid colours.
Smaller-scale sculpture has been found at sites beyond Primal Mexico. These often take the course of local deities and particularly gods related to agriculture. The most common are upright female person figures of a maize deity, typically with an impressive headdress, and the maize god Xipe Totec. Lacking the finesse of imperial-sponsored art, these sculptures and similar pottery figures often represent the more benevolent side of the Aztec gods.
Aztec Ceremonial Knife
Miniature work was also pop where subjects such as plants, insects, and shells were rendered in precious materials such as carnelite, pearl, amethyst, rock crystal, obsidian, shell, and the most highly valued of all materials, the precious stone jade. Ane other fabric which was highly prized was exotic feathers, particularly the green plumage of the quetzal bird. Feathers cut up into small pieces were used to create mosaic paintings, every bit decoration for the shields of Aztec warriors, costumes and fans, and in magnificent headdresses such as the one ascribed to Motecuhzoma II which is now in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna.
Turquoise was a particularly favoured textile with Aztec artists, and the utilise of it in mosaic form to comprehend sculpture and masks has created some of the most striking imagery from Mesoamerica. A typical instance is the busy human skull which represents the god Tezcatlipoca and which now resides in the British Museum, London. Some other fine example is the mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, the god of fire, with sleepy-looking mother-of-pearl eyes and a perfect set of white conch vanquish teeth. Finally, there is the magnificent double-headed snake pectoral, also now in the British Museum. With carved cedar wood completely covered in modest squares of turquoise and the ruddy mouths and white teeth rendered in spondylus and conch shell respectively, the piece was probably one time part of a formalism costume. The snake was a potent image in Aztec art as the creature, able to shed its skin, represented regeneration and was besides particularly associated with the god Quetzalcoatl.
Despite the absence of the potter's wheel, the Aztecs were besides skilled with ceramics as indicated by big hollow figures and several beautifully carved lidded-urns which were excavated by the side of the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan, probably used as receptacles for funeral ashes. Other examples of ceramic works are the moulded censers with tripod legs from Texcoco, spouted jugs, and elegant hourglass-shaped cups. These vessels are typically thin-walled, well proportioned, have a cream or red and black sideslip, and carry finely painted geometric designs in earlier designs and flora and fauna in subsequently examples. The about highly-prized ceramics by the Aztecs themselves, and the blazon which Motecuhzoma himself used, were the ultra-thin Cholula ware from Cholollan in the Valley of Puebla. Vessels could besides be made from moulds or carved while the dirt was still leather-hard. A fine case of these anthropomorphic vessels is the celebrated vase representing the caput of the rain god Tlaloc painted a bright blue, with goggle eyes and fearsome scarlet fangs, now in the National Museum of Anthropology in United mexican states City.
Tlaloc
Musical instruments were another of import part of the Aztec creative person'south repertoire. These included ceramic flutes and wooden teponaztlis and huehuetls, respectively, long and upright formalism drums. They are richly busy with carvings, and 1 of the finest is the Malinalco drum which is covered in dancing jaguars and eagles who represent sacrificial victims as indicated by banners and spoken language scrolls of warfare and burn symbols.
Art every bit Propaganda
The Aztecs, as with their cultural predecessors, employed art every bit a tool to reinforce their military and cultural dominance. Imposing buildings, frescoes, sculpture and even manuscripts, especially at such key sites as Tenochtitlan, not only represented and fifty-fifty replicated the key elements of Aztec religion, but they also reminded subject peoples of the wealth and power which permitted their construction and manufacture.
The supreme instance of this use of art as a conveyor of political and religious messages is the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan which was much more than a hugely impressive pyramid. It was carefully designed in every particular to represent the sacred snake mountain of the globe Coatepec, and then important in Aztec religion and mythology. This mountain was the site where Coatlicue (the world) gave birth to her son Huitzilopochtli (the sun), who defeated the other gods (the stars) led by his sister Coyolxauhqui (the moon). A temple to Huitzilopochtli was built on summit of the pyramid along with another in honour of the rain god Tlaloc. Further associations with the myth are the snake sculptures lining the base and the Great Coyolxauhqui Stone carved in c. 1473, also institute at the base of the pyramid and which represents in relief the dismembered body of the fallen goddess. The rock, along with other such sculptures as the Tizoc Stone, related this catholic imagery to the contemporary defeat of local enemies. In the example of the Coyolxauhqui Stone, the defeat of the Tlatelolca is existence referenced. Finally, the Templo Mayor was itself a repository of art as, when its interior was explored, a vast hoard of sculpture and art objects were discovered entombed with the remains of the dead and these pieces are, in many cases, works that the Aztecs had themselves collected from more ancient cultures than their own.
Tizoc Stone
Temples extolling the Aztec view of the world were also synthetic in conquered territories. The Aztecs ordinarily left existing political and administrative structures in place, but they did impose their own gods in a hierarchy above local deities, and this was largely washed through architecture and fine art, backed upwardly with sacrificial ceremonies at these new sacred places, typically constructed on previous sacred sites and often in spectacular settings such as on mount peaks.
The Sun Rock was carved c. 1427 & shows a solar disk which presents the five consecutive worlds of the sun from Aztec mythology.
Aztec imagery which spread across the empire includes many lesser-known deities than Huitzilopochtli and at that place are a surprising number of examples of nature and agricultural gods. Perhaps the well-nigh famous are the reliefs of the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue on the Malinche Hill most ancient Tula. These and other works of Aztec art were most oftentimes made by local artists and may have been commissioned by authorities representing the state or by private colonists from the Aztec heartland. Architectural art, stone carvings of gods, animals and shields, and other art objects take been establish across the empire from Puebla to Veracruz and especially around cities, hills, springs, and caves. Further, these works are normally unique, suggesting the absence of any organised workshops.
Masterpieces
The large round Stone of Tizoc (carved c. 1485 from basalt) is a masterful mix of cosmic mythology and real-earth politics. Information technology was originally used as a surface on which to perform human cede and equally these victims were usually defeated warriors information technology is entirely appropriate that the reliefs around the edge of the stone describe the Aztec ruler Tizoc attacking warriors from the Matlatzinca, an area conquered by Tizoc in the late 15th century CE. The defeated are also portrayed equally Chichimecs i.e. landless barbarians, whilst the victors vesture the noble apparel of the revered aboriginal Toltec. The upper surface of the rock, 2.67 m in diameter, depicts an 8-pointed sun-disk. The Stone of Tizoc now resides in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico Metropolis.
Coatlicue
The massive basalt statue of Coatlicue (carved in the concluding half-century of Aztec rule) is widely considered one of the finest examples of Aztec sculpture. The goddess is presented in terrifying form with two snakeheads, clawed feet and easily, a necklace of dismembered hands and man hearts with a skull pendant, and wearing a skirt of writhing snakes. Perhaps i of a group of four and representing the revelation of female person ability and terror, the 3.5 1000 high statue leans slightly forward then that the overall dramatic effect of the piece is so emotive that it is understandable why the statue was actually re-cached several times following its original excavation in 1790. The statue of Coatlicue at present resides in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico Urban center.
The Sun Rock, also known every bit the Aztec Agenda Stone (despite the fact that information technology is not a functioning calendar), must be the most recognisable fine art object produced by any of the nifty civilizations of Mesoamerica. Discovered in the 18th century nigh the cathedral of Mexico City, the stone was carved c. 1427 and shows a solar disk which presents the 5 consecutive worlds of the sunday from Aztec mythology. The basalt rock is 3.78 k in bore, about a metre thick and was once function of the Templo Mayor complex of Tenochtitlan. At the eye of the stone is a representation of either the sun god Tonatiuh (the Mean solar day Sun) or Yohualtonatiuh (the Night Sunday) or the primordial world monster Tlaltecuhtli, in the latter case representing the final destruction of the world when the fifth sun fell to earth. Around the central face at four points are the other four suns which successively replaced each other after the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca struggled for command of the creation until the era of the 5th dominicus was reached. On either side of the key face are 2 jaguar heads or paws, each clutching a eye, representing the terrestrial realm. The ii heads at the lesser heart stand for burn down serpents, and their bodies run effectually the perimeter of the stone with each ending in a tail. The 4 cardinal and the inter-central directions are as well indicated with larger and lesser points respectively.
Aztec Lord's day Stone
As one concluding example of the wealth of Aztec art which has survived the best destructive efforts of their conquerors, there is the life-sized eagle warrior from Tenochtitlan. The figure, seemingly most to take flight, is in terracotta and was made in 4 divide pieces. This Eagle Knight wears a helmet representing the bird of prey, has wings and fifty-fifty clawed anxiety. Remains of stucco advise that the figure was once covered in real feathers for an fifty-fifty more than life-similar outcome. Originally, it would have stood with a partner, either side of a doorway.
Conclusion
Following the fall of the Aztec Empire the production of indigenous fine art went into decline. However, some designs of the Aztec civilisation lived on in the work of local artists employed by Augustinian friars to decorate their new churches during the 16th century. Manuscripts and feather paintings also continued to be produced, but it was not until the late 18th century that an interest in Precolumbian art and history would lead to a more systematic investigation of just what lay under the foundations of modern Mexican cities. Slowly, an ever-growing number of Aztec artefacts take revealed, in example there had e'er been any doubtfulness, proof-positive evidence that the Aztecs were amongst the nigh ambitious, artistic, and eclectic artists that Mesoamerica had ever produced.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
Source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Aztec_Art/
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